A Stewardship Message from Rev. Paul
From the President of the Board of Trustees
UUMAN's Heart's Desire Auction Is Just Around the
Corner
How (and why) UUMAN supports North Fulton Community
Charities
Chili Event Cooks Up A Lot of Fun, Plus $1,000+
The Sustainability Committee’s Tip of the Month
Who Would Have Guessed? (Second in a continuing
biographical series)
Ministry with Children & Youth
MCY CALENDAR
HIGHLIGHTS FEBRUARY 2010
Help UUMAN
host a UUA Professional Training
A Month of Sundays (February Worship Services)
Long ago, before I was a minister, I was asked if I was religious. At first I didn't know how to answer the question. Going to church on a regular basis, was that it? I certainly believed so because being part of a church community meant sharing in communal worship. I believed that 40 years ago and still do today. In fact, in my mind, it is an obligation of membership.
Are we religious if we financially support a church? Yes, to some extent, that’s vital but not enough. We are about the business of building a community of faith—a place where we can put our religious values into practice more effectively than we can alone. UUMAN is a place where we come together to learn to think, to worship, to build relationships, and to grow our spiritual lives. We do that best when all fully participate in the life of the community Perhaps that is the part of the answer.
For, it does take a village to make a life for ourselves, to raise our children to become good people, to strive for the holy amidst the turmoil of daily living. Here we can love and support each other with our personal integrity intact. Here humanists and Christians worship side by side, Pagans and Buddhists find common ground and Jews and Christians find the good in each. Here Hindus and Muslims are welcome to enrich the mix of diversity that makes us strong and proud as Unitarian Universalists.
This is a place I call home and I hope you do too. This is where my best self can shine and be valued. Only together can we truly know what it means to be UUMAN.
Please support this congregation generously with all your heart, spirit, talent and financial resources available. The rewards of membership are without doubt greater than you might have first imagined.
We are enriched in so many ways when we come together in worship and community for service and enrichment.
Bless you. Bless this church,
Yours in our
shared faith
Rev. Paul D. Daniel
A Stewardship Message from Rev. Paul
Dear Members and Friends,
In this year of change and financial challenges I am asking you to respond generously to our Stewardship campaign to support the programs and ministries of your church. With your financial commitment we can “Sustain the Flame” of liberal religious freedom this church stand for. We are a voice that makes a difference. Help us grow into our potential. We have already achieved so much.
Your support sustains us and makes it
possible for us to worship together and answer the holy call to work for
justice and peace. It is here within this community that we are spiritual
enriched and intellectually stimulated without calling for conformity, as
creeds and dogmas do. Let our church continue to be a progressive voice in a
reactionary conservative sea.
Within this community you are encouraged to bring your compassion hearts and voice for justice to the struggle to create a world guided by love, and not exclusion and hatred.
It is here that you can share your joys, celebrate your triumphs and mourn your losses within a community that truly cares about you. It is here that you can grow as we challenge each other to become more that we could be alone.
Together we can create a church that welcomes diversity and encourages those differences that allow us to weave a rich pattern of community.
Here our unique form of religious freedom is valued, respected and encouraged. This stewardship campaign supports a free and untrammeled pulpit, allows for a rich variety of thought provoking and spiritually enriching services to take place, while we reject no one for differing theological understandings.
Please be as generous as you can in support of the programs and services that so directly and fundamentally benefit your lives. Now is the time to say yes to our shared future.
Yours in our
shared faith,
Rev. Paul D. Daniel
UUMAN is growing! Our membership now totals 181 compared with 156 a year ago. The average number of adults and youth attending and participating in Sunday services from September through December is 30 percent higher than a year ago (see chart 1 below). In addition to our Sunday services, there is some kind of activity (adult enrichment, committee meetings, potlucks, interest group meetings, rentals for non-UUMAN sponsored events) occurring almost every day of the week at UUMAN.
Members of our congregation are participating in a variety of social action activities. Among those actions are supporting North Fulton Charities through donations of food; participating in events to show our support for the GLBT community; addressing environmental issues through our sustainability committee; and supporting the UUSC through contributions to the Guest at Your Table and various relief efforts. On January 17, members and friends of our congregation contributed $985 to the UUSC for the Haiti Relief fund.
Growth in numbers and program offerings places increased demands on our staff, our volunteers, and our facilities. Thus the costs of operating and maintaining our facilities increase.
In March, UUMAN will begin its Stewardship Campaign for 2010-2011. You will receive more detailed information about the campaign and its goals in February. At its February 13 meeting, the Board of Trustees will focus attention on the plans for the Stewardship Campaign, and on budget objectives for the remainder of this fiscal year and for the 2011 year.
UUMAN’s
finances: Our projected budgeted expenses for fiscal year 2010 are $243,
835. Our projected income goal is $244,349. A snapshot of our finances through
the first half of the current fiscal year follows.
For the first six months of this fiscal year (FY2010), total revenues from pledges, fundraisers, MCY registration fees, rentals, unpledged donations and contributions to the plate have exceeded our projections. As of January 5, 2010, there are 105 pledge units whose pledges total $206, 035. As of January 5, 2010, pledge payments for the fiscal year totaled $118,102 (57 percent of the total amount pledged) However, the amount paid includes $16,000 from members who have paid their pledges ahead of schedule.
As of January 6, 2010, total income (pledged income, unpledged donations, plate income, fundraisers, special collections and rental income) amounts to $140, 252 at the midpoint of the fiscal year. Our expenses for the first half of the fiscal year totaled $111, 394. Our net income is $28,857. Keep in mind that $16,000 of that net income is the result of pledges paid ahead of schedule; there are about $7,000 in loans to be repaid for renovations to Discovery Hall and the septic system; and the rental income is lagging behind expectations. Sixty-nine percent of pledging members are on schedule or just slightly behind in their pledge payments.
It is important that those who are behind catch up on their payments and/or notify Laurey Sherman, our stewardship chair, of their plans to meet or not meet their commitment. If pledge commitments cannot be met, the Board of Trustees needs to know so that appropriate adjustments can be made in the budget for the last half of this year.
How
is the money spent?
As Chart 2 shows, 52 percent of expenditures from July –December of 2009 were spent on staff compensation which includes salaries and benefits for the minister, the MCY Director, Office Administrator, Music Coordinator, Accompanist/Pianist, and Child Care worker. Finance/Administration (mortgages, insurance, bookkeeping and payroll expenses, and office supplies) accounted for 30 percent of the expenses. Nine percent paid for Operations (utilities, maintenance, cleaning, repairs, inspections and monitoring.) Membership dues to the UUA and Mid South District ($76.00 annually per member) are paid monthly and accounted for 4 percent of the expenditures. Communications (postage, telephone, and internet access) accounted for 3 percent of the expenditures.
—Joe
Creech, President, Board of Trustees
UUMAN's
biggest fund raiser will be held on Feb. 27 at 6:45 pm. (Note the eccentricity
and nonconformity of the time! UUs rock!) Join the glitteratti of
We,
of this most distinguished planning committee, are still looking for more goods
and services to auction, so use your imaginations and talents to help support
our spiritual home and to help make this
event a rollicking success.
So
you think you can't come up with an idea?? Here is an excellent example of
auction-ary cleverness: Laurie Wheeler is donating
spaces in a driving scavenger hunt. The lucky high bidders will be given a set
of rules and then will be sent off into the wilds of
This
is the fun part...the hunt also involves lawn art and a digital camera. (Enuff said about that.) The hunt ends at Laurie's house for
dinner, drinks and prizes. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that?
On
the more practical side we have had requests for legal or financial services.
If you can help draw up a binding will or provide some financial planning
advice, we would love to auction off your expertise.
Tickets
will be on sale Sundays starting January 31 before and after service. The cost
is an astonishing $10 per person. The real bargain comes with the party pack
which includes up to 6 tickets for non-UUMAN members to attend our gala event
for just $5 more. (That's right. Invite your un-UU friends.... why keep all the
fun stuff sequestered in our glamorous little church?) What you get for your
bucks...
1)
An excuse to go out in a month where hardly anything ever happens.
2)
Trendy noshes and wine way too fine for cooking.
3)
The chance to mingle with the intelligentsia of
4)
Door Prizes!
5)
The opportunity to buy great goods and useful services to benefit our church
community.
6).
A warm rosy glow on the inside (yes, a little is from the wine) knowing that
you have contributed.
Baby
sitting can be provided for a nominal fee of $5 per child, $15 max per family.
Let us know if you need this service.
If
you have donations please contact Margot Bogue (msbogue@gmail.com).
If you have questions contact Margot, or Elizabeth Rohan (elizabeth.rohan@gmail.com) or me (martinaq@juno.com).
—Martina Queenth
How (and why) UUMAN supports
North Fulton Community Charities (NFCC) began its 2010 operations on an icy Monday morning, Jan. 4, with its workers met at the door by 214 families who had lined up as early as 5 a.m. seeking assistance.
“With the continued recession and many local adults still out of work, NFCC is seeing more and more families in need of food, financial help and clothing,” according to a Roswell weekly newspaper. NFCC assisted 601 families (2,014 individuals) and provided food 579 times in just the first four days of the new year.
In 2009, NFCC helped an average of 130 families every day, distributed nine tons of food and staple goods each week and provided $100,000 in financial assistance each month. Requests for assistance climbed throughout 2009 and are now 45 percent higher than the end of 2008.
Each week UUMAN accepts donations of food and other items for our continuing effort to help families in the Roswell/Alpharetta area. A basket is located in front of the pulpit in the sanctuary to accept your contributions. Look for a monthly reminder in the Order of Worship and on UUMAN Announcements about food and other essential items suggested by NFCC.
We designate one Sunday each month as “Brown Bag Sunday,” when we collect and deliver the items donated that month.
"NFCC is seeing more and more families struggling to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table,” said Executive Director Barbara Duffy. “Would you be able to choose between paying the water bill or gas bill? Buying food or paying the rent? Buying medicine or putting gas in the car? These difficult decisions are adding more stress to families already consumed by the depressing search for work. We continue to hope that this challenge is temporary but we anticipate the recovery for many families will be slow. The individual stories are heartbreaking, like the Alpharetta woman who waited for hours, asking for only $33.16 to pay her car insurance."
Barbara Duffy said the overall response from the local community has been wonderful: "Food, volunteers and donations are coming in at record pace to help meet the need. It seems whenever we run short, someone shows up at our door with another trunk full of food or another generous check for assistance. We are so blessed to live in a community that works together to help our neighbors who are hurting."
These statistics are insightful as well as humbling. But that is why we support the good work of the NFCC Food Pantry.
Thank you for your participation in this ongoing UUMAN outreach program.
—Sarah Jones
Chili Event Cooks Up A
The annual UUMAN Chili Cook-Off drew 20 competitors and satisfied smiles from everyone who sampled the diverse chili recipes after services on Sunday, Jan. 24. The combination of tickets and the auctioning of extra chili made by contestants raised more than $1,000 to support the programs of our community.
Cook-off Chair McPatti Langston reports that first place in the competition went to first-time chili chef Guillermo Kuhl. Guillermo said his recipe also represented the first time he had ever made chili!
(Left to right) Chili Cook-off Chair
Patti Langston congratulates
Randy Blasch served as auctioneer
following the chili cook-off. The event, including the auction, raised more
than $1,000 for the church.
Extra portions prepared for this
year’s chili cook-off await an auction that followed the annual
competition, which drew 20 entries.
Alice Penton was second in the voting, followed by Marc Lee.
McPatti expressed appreciation to everyone who participated and volunteered to help make the event the success that it became.
“I could not do all this work without you,” McPatti said. “I appreciate all your hard work, plus a special acknowledgement goes to Kathy Sexton, for helping me all week – clean, organize, and get rid of junk, so that the space was clean before we set up the cook-off.”
—Chuck Jones
Are you looking for a way to make a difference in the world beyond composting, recycling and all the other green things you do? If so, consider ‘green investing’– investing in green industries, commodities, and technology such as alternative energy sources, photovoltaic cells, natural and organic foods, water, alternative transport, the ‘smart grid’, etc.
Although the federal stimulus package has increased the money going into these industries and both green mutual funds and energy exchange traded funds (ETFs) have outperformed the S&P 500 in 2009, green stocks as a whole are still somewhat riskier than the “tried and true companies of the S&P 500.”* Therefore the ‘newbie’ green investor needs to know how to ‘shop’. A suggested procedure follows:
1. Decide the amount of risk you’re willing to accept and the percentage of your portfolio you wish to devote to green investing. Unless you are an experienced investor, it’s a good idea to consult a green investment analyst before making these decisions. Good information is also available on the following web sites:
Alternative Energy: www.altenergystocks.com/
Socially Responsible Investing: www.yesinvesting.com
The Green Chip Review free newsletter: www.angelpub.com/pubs/gcr
2. Determine what kind of investment instrument to invest in. Unless you are experienced in researching individual stocks and have the time to do so, its wise to choose either mutual funds or ETFs rather than individual stocks. Mutual funds and ETF’s are similar in that they are made up of stocks from many companies allowing investors to own small stakes in a large number of companies with a single investment. However, mutual funds are more expensive because of active managers charging large management fees. Investors buy ETFs from other investors on a stock exchange and the managers have less work to do. Therefore the fees are much smaller.
Mutual fund examples follow (for research purposes only):
Calvert Large Cap Growth Fund (CLGAX)
Spectra Green Fund (SPEGX)
Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy Fund (GAAEX)
ETF
examples follow (again, for research purposes only):
Power Shares Global Clean Energy Portfolio (PBD)
Claymore/Mac Global Solar Index ETF (TAN)
iShares S&P Global Clean Energy Index ETF (ICLN)
3. Decide which type or sector of green investment is the most important to you and begin screening each investment opportunity. Watch out for companies involved in “greenwashing”—i.e., making something appear to be green when really it’s something else. Verify the company’s claim of being green. One hopes reputable mutual funds and ETFs have done this!
4. Screen each investment opportunity and create an investment strategy by: Asking a lot of questions; reading annual reports and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports; and looking over sustainability indexes such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes and the FTSE KLD Global Sustainability index.
5. Have fun and (we hope) make some money!
—Bev Jordon
Who Would Have Guessed? (Second in a continuing biographical series)
Barb and Ben Sample
Barb and Ben Sample were among the outstanding members of UUMAN who played an invaluable role this summer in the most incredible transformation that took place in Discovery Hall. So as fairly new members of UUMAN, I became curious about their story and what life experiences contributed to their beautiful generosity of spirit. I therefore chose them to be second in this series of articles on little known facts about members of our UUMAN community.
Barb
and Ben met in their senior year in high school in the
Barb had moved a lot while growing up,
because her dad changed jobs often, and attended 14 different schools prior to
Junior High. Perhaps it was this lack of stability that led to her development
of stomach ulcers. Barb described to me how she was attracted to Ben because,
among other things about him, during their time together in study hall she
frequently left school with pain in her side from laughing instead of from her
ulcer.
In
1971, after graduation from HS, Ben left to study at Texas A&M
and Barb joined a commune of “Jesus People” (or “Jesus
Freaks”, as they were known somewhat affectionately at that time). This
group was devoted to the conversion of people from
During
this time, Barb and Ben continued to correspond. When Ben came home after his
first semester at Texas A&M, he realized that he
had been a Southern Baptist only because he was raised that way. Now with Barb,
he opened to Christianity to fill what he described as a “hole”
inside him. He returned to Texas A&M and got
joined The Sounds of Salvation, a Baptist singing group. After attending school
all week, they would tour
When
the Barb’s commune chose to join a group called The Children of God, Barb
moved out. The Children of God were a more controlling, militant and radical
group and they preached that the
When talking with Barb and Ben about how two current Unitarians had become so totally devoted to the evangelical movement, I got a flavor of their intense dedication to the welfare of their fellow human beings. For Barbara asked me, “If one truly believed that without Christianity, one would be condemned to Hell for eternity, how could one not work to save their brothers and sisters?” And during the first 15 years of their marriage, this was what they believed.
Since their unique beginnings as a couple, Barb and Ben, in addition to raising two children and being the proud grandparents of two more, have played many roles in their community. Ben’s career grew from carpenter, to real estate maintenance, to being both a real estate agent and running a real estate school. Barb describes him as an excellent teacher. While being laid up with a back injury, he reevaluated his life and accepted an accounting position with a cable company that has evolved to his role today with Cox Media where he shines in advertising and business development.
Barb
has worked in retail, dental assisting, been the Business Administrator for a
Ben and Barb also shared with me the story of their “family tattoo.” Barb’s brother George had been married to a uniquely wonderful woman artist named Robyn who had always wanted to get a tattoo. However, one New Year’s Eve, death tragically took her before she followed through with her wish for that tattoo. Five months after her death, Barb, Ben, her sister Ginny, and her brother George were having dinner, when on the spur of the moment the conversation led them to in a way honor Robyn by getting matching tattoos of their own.
Barb
had given Ben a small petroglyph of the image of the
monkey from the Nasca lines in
—Carole Marra
What do you mean, I’m not
alone…
To quote my friend and most esteemed MCY Council Chair, Matthew Elliott, “you are not alone”. It’s true, we are not alone. We have each other. So, I guess we’re going to have to figure out what that really means!
I don’t know about you, but I
sometimes dream about being alone, on some far-away beach, with the only sound
being that of the waves gently lapping against the soft white sand of the
shoreline…aaahhh. Or a mountain top, or deep in
a forest, or…(you get the picture!). Now, in my
dream the coconut for that delicious drink can appear as if by magic (you know
I’m probably not climbing any coconut tree anytime soon) and my shelter
is pre-constructed etc, but that’s a dream. I can’t do everything
myself. I need others, and if truth be told, I don’t want to be completely
alone. I don’t need isolation, So what is that
longing for a deserted beach about? What is the need behind that
‘dream’? Sometimes I just need peace, some gentle tenderness,
understanding, empathy for my struggles, forgiveness for my blunders, a pass on
my tasks that are getting overwhelming,,,(you get the
picture!). What I need in those moments, more than ever is to be profoundly not
alone. I need you, loving me. Deeply connected, unconditionally loved and
accepted for exactly who I am. It’s just the same for young people despite
their very convincing pleas to be left alone! So maybe the next time your young
one is pushing you away, you might consider reaching for a deeper connection.
So, how can we set things up so that escape isn’t the best option apparently available when things get tough? I think that’s what our ministry with each other is all about. It is the daily practice of our faith. It is the tricky work of figuring out the difference between present in each other’s hearts and lives and being present in the room. Always being there for each other, if not always with each other…(you get the picture!).
—Toniann Read
MCY CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS FEBRUARY 2010
Feb
5-7 –
Feb 7 Elementary 4th and
5th grade ‘OWL’ (Our Whole Lives) Parent Orientation
(12-2.30pm) FH
Feb. 12 Junior and Senior Youth Outing to Whirlyball
Feb 13, 1 – 5 pm Tea Party with our friends at Dogwood Forest Assisted Living center
Feb 19 –
Valentine’s Dance (7 – 10 pm) & ‘Lock-In’ (Adult
Advisors still needed!)
Feb 21 – ‘Mystery Friends’ Revealed!
Feb 28 – MCY Council Meeting (12-2.30pm) DH
Help UUMAN host a UUA Professional Training
Volunteers needed!
On March 5-7, we will be hosting religious professionals from all over the country as they attend a rigorous weekend ‘Renaissance Module’ training.
We need volunteers to help in the following areas;
Transportation – picking guests up from MARTA
Home Hospitality – hosting a guest in your home for 2 nights (Friday & Saturday)
Meals – preparing, serving and clearing up meals on Saturday (breakfast, lunch & dinner) and Sunday (breakfast & lunch).
Please see Toniann or Kathy Sexton for details
A Month of Sundays (February Worship Services)
Feb 7 A Humanist Spirituality
Are you kidding me? Isn't that an an oxymoron to be a humanist and spiritual? I hope to debunk that notion.
Feb 14 Elvis—The Prophet of Love
With his swivel hips and tender ballads he made a generation of teenage girls swoon and had boys taking up Rock and Roll by watching Soul Train and American Bandstand. I will examine the power of love in our lives today.
Feb, 21 Lies I told my mother
No one is always truthful, but when do we move from a harmless untruth to a destructive lie that kills trust. I will examine that issue in today age of situational morality.
Feb 28 Lay Led Service--Randy Blasch
UUMANTimes is the newsletter of Unitarian Universalist
Metro Atlanta North (UUMAN), located at 